The Massachusetts hockey team has all but clinched its spot in the NCAA Tournament for what will be the fifth time in the last six seasons (excluding the shortened COVID-19 season). Before they take the ice on the national stage, the Minutemen have their work cut out for them in the Hockey East Tournament.
With a 9-2-3 record in the final 14 games of the season, UMass is playing some of its best hockey at an opportune time. Before they kick off the HEA Tournament on Wednesday, March 12 against Vermont, here are four things to keep an eye on during the Minutemen’s playoff run.
Durability
After a bruising series against Maine this past weekend, UMass finds itself down several bodies. Daniel Jenčko left Friday night’s game with an upper body injury, Lucas Ölvestad left Saturday with an apparent hand injury and Lucas Mercuri came off the ice gingerly on a couple of occasions Saturday night for the Minutemen. UMass may be forced to play almost every healthy body heading into the playoffs without Jenčko, Ölvestad and Michael Cameron.
In these gritty games against teams that play an extremely physical brand of hockey, the Minutemen excel on the ice despite the injuries that have popped up. It’s part of the culture that exists in the program, and this team thrives when they’re able to take advantage of their opponent’s aggression and capitalize on it. Mercuri drew a penalty on a Maine Black Bear Friday night by engaging him physically during a puck battle and forcing the player to wrap his stick around Mercuri’s body and take a penalty to keep him from cutting to the net.
The Minutemen force plays like this on a game-by-game basis and have proven that they embrace physical games all season. But every single game from here on out will be just as physical as the Maine games, if not more so. The question is, can UMass stay healthy and strong enough through a full playoff run for this brand of hockey to continue to be successful? With a few players down, the Minutemen will have to dig deep each night to remain successful at one of the things they do best.
Defensive Depth
If Ölvestad is out for an extended period of time, the Minutemen will be down to just six healthy defensemen. He and the rest of the top four defensemen, Owen Murray, Larry Keenan and Francesco Dell’Elce, have logged far and away the most ice time each night. Without one of its top defenders, that heavy burden may be placed on Murray, Keenan and Dell’Elce’s shoulders. As all three play a two-way game, expect a bit more ice time for defensive defensemen Linden Alger and Kennedy O’Connor.
One of the keys in the playoffs will be keeping the backend healthy and energized. Murray and Keenan have been really good in the defensive zone most of the season, and Dell’Elce has been trending in the right direction lately on the defensive side of his game. With the amount of ice time UMass’ top three defenders will likely get, their details in the defensive zone need to remain on high alert no matter how much fatigue sets in.
Michael Hrabal
Since his return from another strong showing in the World Juniors in early January, it can be argued that Michael Hrabal has been the best goaltender in college hockey. The 6-foot-7 netminder hasn’t allowed more than three goals in his last eight outings, with some high-end performances against Boston College, Maine and UNH.
A hot goaltender is one of the most valuable things heading into the playoffs at any level of hockey, and UMass has one in Hrabal. Head coach Greg Carvel emphasized after nearly every game in the last two months that Hrabal’s play will dictate just how far his team can go this season. The Czechia native’s response to that pressure from his head coach has been vehemently embraced with a personal goal to live up to those lofty expectations. He expects just as much from himself as Carvel does.
Similar to the hot goalie that the Minutemen ran into in last year’s NCAA Tournament in Matt Davis of Denver, I think Hrabal is right on track to have a similar MVP-style performance coming down the stretch.
Scoring Depth
This is one of the deepest rosters UMass has had in the Carvel-era, right up there with the 2018-19 team that made a run to the Frozen Four. Even with the injuries the team is currently dealing with, the Minutemen have three lines that could easily be listed as the top line on any given night. In last year’s HEA playoffs and NCAA Tournament opening round, UMass only scored five goals in three games. Unlike last year’s forward group that had streaky tendencies, there is just too much depth this year offensively for the Minutemen to struggle in the goal column.
What could benefit UMass is the fact that the top line of Mercuri, Cole O’Hara and Jack Musa will draw a lot of opposing teams’ best defensive matchups, leaving the next two lines in potential mismatches that they can take advantage of.
Vermont is the first team on the slate for UMass in the opening round of the HEA playoffs, the only team in the conference the Minutemen didn’t beat in the regular season. Puck drop Wednesday, March 12, is slated for 7 p.m. at the Mullins Center and can be streamed on NESN and ESPN+.
“Every game [is] do or die – nothing’s guaranteed anymore,” Keenan said. “[The games] coming up, they’re all stolen days. We’ve got to win them.”
Matt Skillings can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @matt_skillings.
